San Gorgonio’s Jordan Pachot(#6), throws a pass against Eisenhower during the first half of Friday’s San Andreas League game at San Gorgonio High School in San Bernardino, Ca., October 12, 2018. (John Valenzuela/ Correspondent)

The connection between a quarterback and his receivers is a very important element to a football team, especially for one that plans to throw the ball a lot.

The San Gorgonio High offensive core understands that fact.

Shortly after quarterback Jordan Pachot transferred into San Gorgonio from Citrus Valley in January of this year, he and his receivers started meeting up to practice every weekend on their own to build chemistry.

“As soon as we found out (Jordan) was coming over, we started working out together on our own time,” San Gorgonio senior wide receiver David Whaley said. “We started building our chemistry months before the season started.”

Those offseason workouts paid dividends for the Spartans’ passing game this season. So far, Pachot completed nearly twice as many passes — 263 — as last year’s quarterback, then-sophomore Kenzel Lawler, attempted (146) and about three times as many yards per game. The passing success has contributed to San Gorgonio being one win away from winning a state championship.

The Spartans captured a CIF Southern Section Division 9 title — its second divisional title in three seasons — and won a CIF State Regional Bowl game. The last win advanced San Gorgonio (12-3) to the 5-AA State Championship Bowl Game at Rio Linda (12-2), a small town just north of Sacramento, on Saturday at 6 p.m.

In recent history, San Gorgonio’s offense has been known more for its dual-threat quarterbacks who get it done with their feet. Guys like Nate Meadors and Kaleb Hayes, who helped the Spartans to a CIF-SS Division 7 title in 2016. Neither of them averaged 150 passing yards per game.

This season, head coach Rich McClure planned to change the offense. Pachot’s arm was a big reason for San Gorgonio’s ability to do it. Working as the offensive coordinator is Pachot’s father, Gavin Pachot, who was previously the offensive coordinator when he and McClure assisted at San Jacinto and then eventually became the head coach at Rialto.

“The biggest thing for me was changing our offense, so that we could be multi-faceted, not just being able to run the ball,” McClure said. “Last year, we didn’t feel comfortable about our passing attack, so we ran more of an option.”

Heading into the state bowl game, Pachot has thrown for a school-record 4,084 yards with a 65.9 completion rate, 37 touchdowns and just 12 interceptions.

Pachot has spread the ball around, too. His favorite target has been speedy junior Jaylen Matthews, who has caught 101 passes for 1,428 yards and 12 touchdowns. But he also has big targets in Whaley (51 catches, 1,018 yards and 15 touchdowns), senior running back Elijah Hall (46 catches, 688 yards and seven TDs) — whose been as big of a threat on the ground with a school-record 2,210 rushing yards — and junior Demajea Mitchell (33 catches, 550 yards and three TDs).

“I have four receivers that are fast and catch everything,” Pachot said. “All I have to do is put the ball near them and they’ll catch it.”

It’s not just his arm that his teammates are enjoying.

“I have a quarterback that I can talk to this year,” Hall said. “There were some things we needed to strategize on the field.”

Pachot started the previous two seasons at Citrus Valley. He combined to throw for 5,078 yards but never experienced a winning season until now. Pachot elected to transfer after the Blackhawks decided to make a coaching change.

Regardless, Pachot and the rest of the Spartans are trying to do something that no other San Bernardino City Unified School team has done yet.

“Nobody in San Bernardino has ever won the state championship,” Matthews said.

Accomplishing that will be the result of the Spartans’ offseason preparations.